Battle of the Third Reich

During the hour from midnight on the 20th to 1am on the 21st, the German Wehrmacht launched a full-scale offensive along the frontier between Austria and Italy. The dense border transportation network in the Austrian-Italian border area is the result of hundreds of years of construction, connecting isolated towns in the Alps.

The German mechanized infantry, riding trucks and armored personnel carriers, easily broke through the Italian border defense and entered the Italian territory along the mountain road. These troops attacking along the mountain roads only undertake feinting tasks. Their goal is to quickly occupy the southern mountains of the Alps, consolidate the two wings of the main attacking troops, and ensure the smooth flow of the important mountain railway supply line between the east and the west.

In this large-scale battle, the most important thing is to maintain the smoothness and safety of the supply line. An ordinary infantry division basically consumes hundreds of tons of supplies and supplies every day during combat, of which only half of the food required for the three meals of officers and soldiers is consumed, and ammunition oil and various war-worn supplies are also consumed These figures will double every day when the fighting is fierce. In this military operation, Germany still organized various division units into a mixed army, a large part of which was for the convenience of logistics management.

Germany is accelerating the mechanization of the military. With a stable source of fuel, the German Defense Forces finally removed the shackles around the neck, accelerating the reform of replacing military horses with fuel vehicles. In the past, Germany still had a large number of mule horses in various infantry units to transport the weight and tow artillery of the company-level troops. It was not because the army could not afford cars. The main reason was to reduce fuel pressure because it was relatively expensive. Fossil fuels, Germany is more likely to get the fodder used by mule livestock.

Now that the fuel issue has been resolved, the German Wehrmacht has finally been able to let go of its hands and begin the full mechanization of the Army. At present, the overall mechanization of the German troops on the front line in Austria has reached more than 40%. Most pure infantry units have received their own trucks, and the number of logistics units has reached the level calibrated by the headquarters. Some of the assault infantry regiments can almost be divided into quasi-motorized troops. The group army headquarters has equipped them with a large number of trucks to increase the mobility of these troops.

At present, only a portion of the mountain cavalry and artillery and reconnaissance cavalry units of various infantry divisions still retain the horses they use.

Only while increasing the mobility of the troops, a large number of vehicles have also put some new pressure on the logistics system, and the demand for motor vehicle parts and various fuels is rising rapidly. However, due to the large-scale popularization of mechanization, the corresponding logistics unit has also caused a considerable increase in the original transportation capacity.

Now the logistics officers of the German Wehrmacht are trying to figure out how to maintain the normal operation of this system. It can be foreseen that the logistics supply system in Germany will usher in a qualitative leap. It belongs to the German [red ball transport], and it is now growing in its infancy. growing up.

The German offensive plan is still a cliché-like offensive. This tactic was not chosen because it was ancient, but because it was indeed effective. The main task of the west is the assault group dispatched from Innsbruck, they will move along the railway line, and strive to break through the alpine natural danger at the fastest speed and kill the fertile Po plain.

Brenello is the first and most important Italian border town that needs to be captured. As Colonel Fiberto foresees, the German side must take this railway hub in its entirety, and there is a complete repair And dispatching equipment, and at the same time reserve a large amount of professional materials and equipment needed to maintain the Italian railways, which can play an important auxiliary role for the German army’s subsequent operations along the railway.

Because the heads of state will arbitrarily advance the time of declaring war for a long time, the Germans have lost the unexpected conditions, but for the Germans, in fact, it does not matter much, anyway, they have already figured out the details of the group of Italian comrades opposite.

In the border town of Gris, on the Austrian side of the Brunner Pass, two German assault infantry regiments have been battling here for a long time. In order to avoid exposing their targets, these soldiers are strictly restricted to the scope of their activities and can only live in the parking yard On the two troop-carrying trains, these fledgling fighters have long suffocated to find a place to vent.

Prior to this, ordinary soldiers did not even know that the target of the attack was Italy, and many people speculated that they would eventually be transferred to the more east front, such as the mountainous countries of Yugoslavia and Romania.

As a result, after the war command was issued, some smart people immediately thought of the targeted training they had received before, obviously to deal with this kind of war, and it seems that the superior has already made a comprehensive arrangement for the invasion. This war is clearly premeditated, not an act of revenge that ordinary people think, but since these are smart people, of course, they will not foolishly share this somewhat dangerous discovery with others.

And for ordinary soldiers who are frustrated for failing to make a contribution to the European War, this is simply the second chance God has given them, so that they can make up for all the regrets before the Italians.

In the evening of the 20th, the soldiers of the two battalions quietly entered the pre-set departure position, which clearly confirmed the speculation of some smart people, but at this time the arrow was already hanging on the string, and there was no time to go. Thinking wildly.

On the afternoon of the same day, they unexpectedly received a support force, and two artillery battalions with 36 cannons were transported to this town by train. These artillery equipment is equipped with a French Schneider 1917 155mm howitzer with a range of 11,000 kilometers. Although it is a product of the late World War I, its performance is not outdated.

The Germans seized about two hundred heavy guns of this type on the European battlefield. In addition to returning part of the French Army, they also absorbed some of their own firepower as a supplement to their own firepower, because the German heavy infantry units have always been the shortcomings of the Army. .

These three-ton guns are more suitable for maneuvering with the railway. Under the current combat intensity, there is no opponent who can restrain it. The Army Intelligence Department has long obtained an accurate map of the Italian military, which shows the location of all important departments and the coordinates of semi-permanent positions. The German artillery can shoot all the elements according to the ground icon, and use precise artillery to cut the enemy's defense line for the assault troops.

But the headquarters seemed to think that these preparations were not enough. They wanted to take the town completely, so they decided to use paratroopers here.

In fact, the use of airborne troops in combat against Italy was determined at the beginning of the plan. The biggest advocate was Kettle. The Germans tasted the sweetness of airborne behind the enemy in the British operation. The performance of the airborne troops in the battle gave The chief of staff left a deep impression.

Speaking of which, in the early days of the development of the German paratroopers, Italy gave a lot of technical support. The kind of rz series of parachute gears used by the German paratroopers was developed on the basis of the Italian "El Salvador" parachute. of. But now the German paratroopers have replaced their new parachute gears, and they no longer need to airborne with only a pistol.

Airborne parachuting at night is no longer a problem for German paratroopers. The biggest difficulty now comes from the complex local terrain. This village and town is in the middle of a valley, flanked by steep mountain peaks in the Alps. Obstacles such as old-style spires in the town and the line of street lamp poles are also a serious threat to paratroopers landing.

At present, the airdrop area that can be selected is only the center station and the yard line. It is a long flat ground that is only 700 meters long and 400 meters wide. Railway tracks and various metal components are densely covered on the ground.

Although the paratroopers have the courage to face these difficulties, the superiors do not want to cause unnecessary losses here. If they do not have complete assurance, they are willing to abandon this plan and use infantry to complete the combat through conventional tactics.

Finally, after the paratrooper's vigorous request, the headquarters finally agreed to act according to the original plan. It was just that the paratroopers participating in the airdrop were no longer the first paratrooper battalion originally scheduled, but the parachute teaching with more excellent airborne technology. Battalion, this is the seed unit used to train paratroopers of grassroots officers. This is equivalent to announcing to the superiors that they are going to fight back.

Facts have proved that the seed troops are indeed well-deserved. Of course, they need to thank the group of transport plane pilots who are willing to spend their lives with paratroopers. They only rely on the guidance of the dim moonlight, risking to hit the cliff, forcibly lowering into the valley at low altitude, and putting that one The paratroopers of the battalion were accurately thrown into the airdrop area.

In order to reduce the time that paratroopers stayed in the air, Aunt Junckers used all their means. The plane was only more than 300 meters from the ground during the final airdrop, and the height of the fuselage was lower than the ridges on both sides.

The elite German paratroopers stayed in the air for less than 20 seconds, and the heavy paratrooper boots had stepped on the gravel ground of the yard, and there was no time for the Italians to counterattack. The paratroopers on the ground immediately used all kinds of weapons they carried, launched a fierce attack on all non-self targets in sight, covered comrades who were still in the air, and cleared a safe landing area.

The German paratroopers with fierce automatic firepower could not be confronted by the Italian infantry who only held a single-shot rifle. The paratroopers quickly occupied a stable position, and the pilots launched a light signal on the ground for the next wave. Comrades guide the goal.

The battle proceeded more smoothly than expected by the headquarters. The presence of paratroopers completely disrupted the deployment of the Italians and severely cracked down on the morale of the Italians. Especially the Italian command organ was suddenly destroyed, which caused the entire combat system to fall into. Inevitable chaos.

The German assault infantry battalion, who immediately received the action signal, began to launch a general attack on the Italian defense line along the road opened by the artillery. But when the army soldiers roared and rushed to the Italian position, they found that the ground was covered with collapsed trenches and broken corpses, and a large group of Italian officers and soldiers shrunk in the pits.

These poor guys have been stunned by the terrible heavy artillery, but the superior has repeatedly rejected their request to withdraw, which is equivalent to cutting off the hope of these soldiers surviving from the battlefield. So when these people saw the German infantry rushing into the position with a rifle, it was almost like seeing a savior. They quickly threw away their arms and raised their hands high, demanding surrender to the German Army in stuttering German.

ps: Thank you for your rewards and monthly tickets, I will continue to work hard.

Thank you. (To be continued.)

...